Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ANATOMICAL GIFTS; INQUIRY                                                       S.B. 287:
                                                        ANALYSIS AS PASSED BY THE SENATE
Senate Bill 287 (as passed by the Senate)
Sponsor: Senator Kevin Daley
Committee: Health Policy
Date Completed: 9-18-23
RATIONALE
According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, one organ donor could
prevent up to eight people on the transplant list from dying or worsening in their conditions.
Reportedly, asking a verbal question is a more effective way of getting people to sign up for
the organ and tissue donor registry, as evidenced by the decrease in the registry's growth
since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, it has been suggested that
physician's offices and urgent care centers be allowed to ask people if they were interested in
information regarding the organ and tissue donor registry or donating bone marrow.
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Public Health Code to allow a physician's private office or
an urgent care center to ask each new patient whether the patient was interested
in information regarding the organ and tissue donor registry or donating bone
marrow.
Specifically, the bill would allow a physician's private practice office or an urgent care center
to do the following:
-- Inquire of each new patient who was between 18 and 45 years old, either verbally or on a
    written or electronic form, whether the patient was interested in information on donating
    bone marrow and, on the patient's request, provide the patient with information on
    becoming a bone marrow donor; if information were provided, it would have to include
    contact information for bone marrow donation programs in the State.
-- Inquire of each new patient, either verbally or on a written or electronic form, whether the
    patient was interested in information on the organ and tissue donor registry and, on the
    patient's request, provide the patient with educational materials explaining the right to
    make an anatomical gift under Part 101 (Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Law),
    information describing the organ and tissue donor registry, and information on how to
    have the patient's name placed in the organ and tissue donor registry; if information were
    provided, it would have to include contact information for the State's Federally designated
    organ procurement organization or its successor organization as described in Section
    10120.
(Section 10120 allows an organ procurement organization to establish or contract for the
establishment of a donor registry that meets certain requirements, including that it be
accessible to a procurement organization and provide electronic access at no cost to the
procurement organization.)
"Anatomical gift" would mean that term as defined in Section 10102: a donation of all or part
of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation,
therapy, research, or education. "Organ and tissue donor registry" would mean the donor
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registry as that term as defined in Section 10102: a database that contains records of
anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical gifts as provided for in
Section 10120.
The materials and information described in the bill could be provided to the patient orally or
in written or electronic form
Proposed MCL 333.10401
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION
(Please note: This section does not provide a comprehensive account of all previous legislative efforts on the relevant subject matter.)
The bill is a reintroduction of Senate Bill 1025 from the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. Senate
Bill 1025 was reported the Senate Committee on Health Policy and Human Services but
received no further action.
ARGUMENTS
(Please note: The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency.
The Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)
Supporting Argument
Donating organs, tissue, and eyes can comfort individuals who have just had a loved one die
by knowing the loved one's death gives others renewed hope for a healthy life. Additionally,
according to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, similar bills have
helped to grow the organ and tissue donor registries of other states. The bill would increase
the likelihood that people become organ donors in Michigan's.
Supporting Argument
According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, studies show that
people reluctant to add their names to the donor registry trust their family doctor for
information about being a donor. Donation partners, entities such as organ procurement
organizations responsible for collecting organs and tissue from deceased donors, would have
a more success in recruiting donors by connecting with doctors and providing ongoing
education through them to their patients if the bill were made statute.
                                                                                          Legislative Analyst: Alex Krabill
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the Department of Health and Human Services or local
units of government.
                                                                                           Fiscal Analyst: Ellyn Ackerman
  SAS\S2324\s287a
  This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official
  statement of legislative intent.
Page 2 of 2                             Bill Analysis @ www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa                                       sb287/2324
Statutes affected: 
Senate Introduced Bill: 333.1101, 333.25211
As Passed by the Senate: 333.1101, 333.25211